Watchdog Blasts Hawley’s Arbitrary Antitrust Overhaul

For Immediate Release

Contact: David Williams (202-258-6527)

Washington, D.C. – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is deeply concerned about the introduction of the “Trust Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act” by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). This bill would cripple critical market forces in all sectors of the economy and create vast uncertainty.

In response, TPA Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger offered the following comment:

“Senator Hawley’s proposal gives the government far too much power to regulate all corners of the economy. Hawley has used grievance politics with technology companies to spin up support on the right for revamping antitrust laws to consolidate power over the entire market with people like him. This bill finally pulls back the veil on a coordinated effort to undermine market forces well beyond Silicon Valley.

“The bill would implement a blanket ban on any mergers and acquisitions for firms with a market cap more than an arbitrary benchmark set by the government, serving only to shut-off a key incentive for investors and entrepreneurs to enter the market in the first place. It would also eliminate the consumer welfare standard for antitrust in favor of a vague standard of ‘protection of competition.’ Violators of this ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ approach to antitrust would be exposed to potentially massive forfeitures under ill-defined standards. This kind of uncertainty and disincentive to dynamism is the last thing any economy needs, let alone right after a pandemic.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.